Alexander Zharovsky would have been picked 35th had the Habs not gone higher in the draft

Dose
Crédit:

The Canadiens have a strong Russian connection in their organization.

For the past three drafts, the club has not been afraid to draft in Russia. Ivan Demidov, Alexander Zharovsky, Bogdan Konyushkov, Yevgeni Volokhin, Makar Khanin and Arseni Radkov (a Belarussian) have all been targets for the club.

Is this the Nick Bobrov effect? Of course it is. He has his connections in Russia and that makes all the difference.

Some of these prospects are important. Ivan Demidov is obviously one of them: we know that the Canadiens are counting heavily on him as part of their plan to revive the organization.

Yevgeni Volokhin is another. He spent several weeks practicing in town, and we know that the Habs hold him in high esteem.

Bogdan Konyushkov wants to come to North America someday, and we’re keeping an eye on him too… but among the guys who aren’t Ivan Demidov, the most serious name in recent weeks has been Alexander Zharovsky.

His talent is intriguing a lot.

While many in Russia expected him to be drafted in the first round, the Canadiens were able to draft him early in the second round last month.

He moved up to 34th to do so.

But if he hadn’t moved up, the Habs wouldn’t have been able to pick him. And it’s not just a guess: this was confirmed by Nick Bobrov, who did his homework on the subject after the draft to confirm his hunches.

He suspected that the Predators (ranked 35th) liked Zharovsky, and if the Habs didn’t move up a spot sooner, the prospect was headed to Nashville. This is what journalist Alexandre Gascon (Radio-Canada) wrote in a text.

So, yes, the Habs did the right thing going into the draft. Without it, the story would have been different and the highly talented Russian would not have been able to be selected by the Canadiens, who have a lot more information than other teams on players from Russia.

Will it pay off?

overtime

– This club is doing well…

– Saku Koivu, in his son’s shadow. [TVAS]

– Enjoy.